The identity of Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn. subsp. gotlandica (Neum.) B. Nord., hitherto considered an endemic to the Swedish islands Öland and Gotland, was investigated using nrITS and trnT-trnL intergenic spacer sequences and a broad sample of species and accessions particularly of J. vulgaris. We found that J. vulgaris subsp. gotlandica is a distinct evolutionary lineage more widespread in Europe than previously thought and may be a southeastern European steppe floristic element with outliers on the large Baltic islands. Our entirely unexpected findings underline the need of multiple intraspecific sampling in species-level phylogenetic studies.